1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluctuating air-conditioning control for cyclically repeating an operation in which a plurality of rotation groups enter an energy saving mode in turn, and relates specifically to an air-conditioning control system and method for reducing failure events with appropriate grouping.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, fluctuating air-conditioning control in which a room temperature setting is cyclically changed or an air-conditioning apparatus is cyclically turned on and off in order to achieve both comfort and energy saving is available. For this fluctuating air-conditioning control, a technique for shifting the phase (timing) of a fluctuation cycle for changing a room temperature setting or the phase of a fluctuation cycle for changing operation of an air-conditioning apparatus in order to restrain peak usage of electric power from occurring in a certain period is proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-190434). Further, a technique is proposed in which, in a case of operation of shifting a fluctuation cycle, air-conditioning apparatuses having the same room temperature setting or the same power consumption are classified into separate groups and operated (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-009895).
For example, it is assumed that, for a building, operation group classification is performed for air-conditioning apparatuses K1 to K8 having power consumption values as illustrated in Table 1 in order to shift the phases for starting and stopping the air-conditioning apparatuses K1 to K8.
TABLE 1ApparatusPower Consumption [kW]K1140K270K370K430K530K620K720K810
When air-conditioning apparatuses having the same power consumption are classified into two groups (in a case of using the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-009895), air-conditioning apparatuses having the same power consumption are put in separate groups, and two groups illustrated in Table 2 are generated first.
TABLE 2Group 1Group 2K2 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K3 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K4 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K5 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K6 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)K7 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)
When the remaining air-conditioning apparatuses K8 and K1 are put in separate groups so as to reduce an imbalance in power consumption, the air-conditioning apparatuses are classified into the groups as illustrated in Table 3 or 4.
TABLE 3Group 1Group 2K2 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K3 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K4 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K5 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K6 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)K7 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)K8 (Power Consumption: 10 kW)K1 (Power Consumption: 140 kW)
TABLE 4Group 1Group 2K2 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K3 (Power Consumption: 70 kW)K4 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K5 (Power Consumption: 30 kW)K6 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)K7 (Power Consumption: 20 kW)K1 (Power Consumption: 140 kW)K8 (Power Consumption: 10 kW)
In this case, the ratio of the total power consumption of group 1 to that of group 2 is 130 to 260 in the case of grouping illustrated in Table 3 and is 260 to 130 in the case of grouping illustrated in Table 4. When fluctuating air-conditioning control is performed in which the air-conditioning apparatuses in group 1 and those in group 2 are alternately turned on (normal operation) and off (stop), the power consumption during operation changes as illustrated in FIG. 6 in the case of grouping illustrated in Table 4. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the power consumption of group 1 is much higher, and it is found that the effect of distribution for restraining peak power consumption from occurring in a certain period is not sufficiently attained.
Accordingly, by taking only air-conditioning apparatuses into consideration, appropriate grouping might not be possible with the related art. Further, an air-conditioning control system is not always constituted by only air-conditioning apparatuses. Therefore, in a case of operation in which the phase of a fluctuation cycle is shifted for only air-conditioning apparatuses, failure events may occur in the air-conditioning control system. Accordingly, there is a demand for further improvement.